That led to fans re-evaluating their goals for the season, but another twist came at the start of November – they’ve now won seven of their past 10 games.

So it’s been a season of highs and lows so far.

There are warnings there for Ipswich going into the game. There was a cup match against Preston a couple of years back which ended in a draw. That led to an unwanted trip up north for a replay and helped de-rail league form for a period.

Luke Varney is a name Pompey fans will recognise.

He came in on loan at the end of last season and raised eyebrows. His career was going in the wrong direction but McCarthy has got the best out of him.

There’s also been much made of the striking options in David McGoldrick, Brett Pitman, Freddie Sears and Daryl Murphy.

In previous years if the reserves were put out Ipswich would’ve been seriously weakened.

There is like-for-like quality there now, though, so there should be enough for them to win – even with changes being made.